February 2013 Grocery Challenge

pinkypig

NSD today as there is nothing that could drag me out in this weather. Rain, sleet and blowing a gale here.

Cottage pie and super6 veg for tea which was lovely. Managed to get 6 HM burgers and a huge cottage pie out out one pack of £2.49 mince by padding out with breadcrumbs and onions. 2 portions of cottage pie are now in the freezer later in the month.

Hope everyone as had a good day.

PP xx

[Deleted User]

Ive just updated my signature. I had a c* *p voucher to use so i decided to do a supermarket sweep and visit all the supermarkets (trying to stick to my list) around my area. I spent £16.76, only £2.16 was YS veg though. I started at the C* *p as i had a £2 off a £10 spend. This wasnt really worth bothering about but i used £8 of it for a birthday present and other non food things, which dont count towards my food budget and £2.10 on food which does. Looking around other shops after ide spent the £8 necessary, i didnt really save anything as the birthday present and screen wash were £1 cheaper each elsewhere. I didnt loose anything either, but its a learning curve because ile only be using the c* *p for YS products from now on. Anyhoo! in the £16.76 ive included 3 bottles of Blossom Hill wine, which was on 3 for £10 at Mr.As and i also had a £1.50 voucher off the wine, so 3 bottles for £8.50. The other £6.16 went on groceries i needed that i had to pay full price for, but im quite pleased with what i got today. I think ile be paying HB and A**i a visit before the main stores, as i did find they were cheaper. So if i can keep myself away from YS products this week (apart from fruit, which i only found one thing on my travels) i only need a loaf of bread....YS of course.

Kitchenbunny

Hello I'll catch up with all the posts after tea because it's nearly ready, but wanted to post my spend today of £28.97 while I remember. I did get a couple of things we didn't really need but I wanted to try, but as these were from the Savers range and will get used, I'm not too concerned.

Testing now the M Savers 40p Shampoo and 30p Deodorant roll on - we'll see how it goes

Off for my curry now - see you later!

KB xx

GreenFairy

I'm on my 5:2 day today as well, so had some pumpkin ravioli and salad for dinner. Very nice it was too!
€23.43 to add to total, unfortunately. Dried fruit and pulses, tortillas, bin bags, baked beans, ice cream (naughty!) and a stock up on original source shower gel and handwash as it's half price at the moment. No more toiletries or pantry bits (apart from a bag of brown rice) needed for the rest of the month.

In other purchases - when did Lemsip get so expensive? Picked up a small pack of lemsip max as have a horrible cold and it was around a fiver! That's nearly a euro a sachet! If I wasn't feeling so miserable I'd have left it on the shelf.

katholicos

Leftovers for tea this evening. Nothing very thrilling lol!

No spendy day today.

Florenceem

GreenFairy wrote: »

I'm on my 5:2 day today as well, so had some pumpkin ravioli and salad for dinner. Very nice it was too!
€23.43 to add to total, unfortunately. Dried fruit and pulses, tortillas, bin bags, baked beans, ice cream (naughty!) and a stock up on original source shower gel and handwash as it's half price at the moment. No more toiletries or pantry bits (apart from a bag of brown rice) needed for the rest of the month.

In other purchases - when did Lemsip get so expensive? Picked up a small pack of lemsip max as have a horrible cold and it was around a fiver! That's nearly a euro a sachet! If I wasn't feeling so miserable I'd have left it on the shelf.

Cheaper to make yourself a hot lemon/honey drink and take some paracetamol - that's what is in Lemsips. If you have a cough this drink soothes it. I also sleep with socks on and my soles laden with Vick.

Islandmaid

Evening all,

NSD today, kept myself mega busy, day off work, but caught up on housework and have cooked and baked for England.

Toad in the hole, mash, carrots and onion gravy for dinner - can,t move now.....

whichwhydoIturn

I fin this handy to use up old past its good looks citrus fruit Take your washed no wax still with peel fruit , cut into quarters.
Add enough boiling water to just cover the fruit , simmer for 20 mins
With a hand blend blend it down , and gentle simmer again until its resembles a gel type look.
This then can be frozen for later use or used in a cold remedy drink , added to cream for a yummy filling , or cheesecake ,or as a lovely drink with boiling water first thing in the morning !!

Chellie1964

Hello everyone, hope you don't mind me just hanging around this month testing the water. I'm really inspired by the posts so thank you and I'm hoping to join in with the challenge next month. This month I'm meal planning and keeping a track of spending to get an idea of a realistic budget and start getting a hold on grocery spending from there with a view to reducing the budget. I'm embarrassed to say that prior to December I was spending in excess of £600 a month in A!!a for myself OH, MIL who lives with us and 11 yr old DS and 2 teenage step daughters every other weekend. I didn't meal plan or shop with a list and often spent over £100 and lots of little extra shops that turned into £20+ during the week due to lack of organisation and no regard to what I already had crammed into the freezer.

My wanting to reduce spend is more about not wasting money or food as though times are hard we're very fortunate in that we have two decent incomes coming in. nevertheless I don't want to carry on lining the pockets of big supermarkets and needlessly throwing food and money away. I'm trying to come in at £400 this month from 26th Jan to 23rd Feb and am already up to £225. I'm not sure how to work my budget though 4 weekly, monthly? I shop on a Saturday as I work during the week, one pay day is 24th and one is last day of month. I would love to hear what others do and look forward to joining the challenge properly next month!

nicknack

Billie-jo wrote: »

Nicknack
I love the Hairy Dieters cookbook have made the rich Beef and Ale casserole (wonderful) the Italian Meatballs and sauce and the lasagne so far. All been really tasty and will do them again, going to attempt one of the curries on Wed I think.

Just eaten the cottage pie - it was really tasty - we both had seconds :rotfl:
The Italian meatballs recipe is on my list to try soon

NSD today too, first for a while!